Microsoft Teams Gets Another Competitor: Telegram Working on Audio and Video Calling

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov says the company is working on audio and video calling. Those abilities would make the service a more compelling enterprise option and put it against Microsoft’s Skype for Business and Teams services.

Telegram is the latest company to throw its weight behind business chat tools. Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram has said the app is getting audio calls. Responding to a user on Twitter, he also hinted that video calls will arrive on the popular messaging service.

As this was just a social media reply, there is nothing official from the company. Indeed, it is unclear if Durov was just saying it is something the company will explore or that the features are in the pipeline.

Certainly, the company has had the capability for audio calls for some time. However, Telegram previously felt no need to introduce the feature. In fact, a tweet send April, 2015 said:

“We developed the encrypted voice calling technology some time ago, but we don’t see it as a priority for Telegram right now.”

Needless to say, times have changed and so has the market. But even now the company’s FAQ points out that its focus is on the core foundations that built the service:

“We specialize in sending messages, large media and files – and we do this better than anyone out there. There are still many things we can revolutionize in messaging. And messaging is obviously trending at the moment, so our focus remains in that area for now.”

Pushing for Enterprise

Telegram has become popular amongst users, but rival messaging services have arguably evolved more rapidly. Companies are chasing the enterprise chat market as a major frontier and audio and video calling capabilities are key to that push. Telegram clearly also has business aspirations and the company already has an appealing feature.

The service is known for its ability to send all file types, including large sizes. This could be an important enterprise tool. If audio and video calling is added the Telegram could be formidable, especially with its optional end-to-end encryption.

Microsoft is currently leading the enterprise chat market with Skype for Business. The company’s position is likely to be strengthened in the coming years by the predicted growth of Microsoft Teams.

Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.